20th and 21st day in Hue

បោះពុម្ពផ្សាយ: 16.03.2018

With the OpenTourBus, we crossed the Hai Van Pass, the geographical watershed between South and North Vietnam (in a tunnel) and arrived safely in Hue. To our surprise, our hostel is fully booked due to issues with the booking system. We are being relocated to the sister hostel around the corner, which has the same standard, and we are okay with that.

In the evening, we take a walk that leads us across the Perfume River, which flows through Hue.

We are a bit exhausted, just like the dogs in the picture. In the background, you can see the dragon boats, which are beautiful from the outside, but few tourists are enthusiastic about taking a ride on the river. Therefore, we prefer to observe from the outside.

In a restaurant recommended by our guidebook, we try the culinary specialties of Hue. There are plenty of them, as there were supposedly emperors in the past who wanted to be served a different dish every day.

In the restaurant, the deaf-mute restaurant owner asks us with sign language and writing if we would like to explore the well-preserved pagodas and imperial tombs in the surrounding area of Hue (Hue itself, including the buildings of the citadel in the city, was almost completely destroyed during the Tet Offensive). Since we were already wondering how to reach those places, we agree to his offer.

In the evening, Hue lives up to its reputation as one of the rainiest cities in Vietnam.
Our breakfast is accompanied by a caged songbird. There are many of them here. We consider freeing it in a clandestine action. In any case, it sings its song of freedom loudly and convincingly.
As promised, Mr. Lac picks us up from the hostel with two scooters and off we go. We visit various Buddhist pagodas through various secret paths (which we would not have found ourselves).
In the garage of one of the monasteries stands the Austin car that the monk Thich Quang Duc drove to a street intersection in Saigon in 1963. The images of his self-immolation there in protest against the suppression of Buddhists by the Catholic-dominated regime in South Vietnam went around the world.
Our route follows the Perfume River, and the mountains in the background provide a great panorama.
In the courtyards, orchids hang in the wildest color combinations.
Nature accompanies us at every step.

As promised, Mr. Lac takes us to a huge water park with slides and an arena, but it is abandoned. Perhaps it rained too much. In any case, we explore an interesting building in the shape of a water dragon, which is architecturally well-designed but showing signs of aging. However, from the dragon's mouth, you have a great view.
The imperial tombs are huge oversized parks that the emperors themselves planned during their lifetime. We walk along the Lake of Brightness, through the Gates of Youth and the Temple of Enlightenment, to stand in front of a large walled inconspicuous burial mound that is not allowed to be entered.
We may not be enlightened at the end, but we are surprised by the variety of fish that gather in the Lake of Brightness to be fed.

Due to illness, we spend the second day in Hue in our hotel room. It would have been nice to visit the Citadel, but we read in the guidebook that they have just started rebuilding the buildings there.

In any case, we are fit for travel, so we immediately board the night train to explore the nature, caves, and karst formations around Ninh Binh (hopefully in better physical condition).
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